"Those with talent who naturalise today can easily leave the country of adoption for greener pasture tomorrow; it is what these developed countries do to keep them there that really matters.

Between the hard-working stateless man who has spent much of his life toiling on Malaysian soil and the corrupt politician who continues to squander our national wealth, it does not take a genius to distinguish who is the real patriot." By Josh Hong in Malaysiakini

VISITORS

52nd National Day celebrations of MalaysiaPeople wave in front of a giant ‘Jalur Gemilang’ flag during the 52nd National Day celebrations at Parliament House in Kuala Lumpur. – Reuters pic . Malaysian Insider

Setting targets in the public service

Without execution, challenging goals are only as good as the paper they are printed on. A delivery plan is needed and it must be executed to completion.

To make his motto of ‘People First, Performance Now’ a reality, the Prime Minister has implemented a system of key performance indicators (KPIs) for all ministers.

He has also specified national KPIs for lead ministers who have been made responsible for the six national key result areas – crime, corruption, public transport, poverty, rural infrastructure and education.

Excellent advise from the Malaysian PM:

Tear down these walls separating us as a people

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 30 — Likening unity to bridges which connect the people and disunity to walls that divide them, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak tonight urged the people to repair their bridges and tear down the divisive walls that existed among the races.

Malaysian Citizenship bids need to wait almost forever

“Once the applications reach Putrajaya, virtually nothing is done,” disclosed former Sabah chief minister Chong Kah Kiat, citing his personal experience during his term in office.

“I had to personally see (former premier Dr) Mahathir (Mohamad) to get approval for 300 applicationsfor Permanent Residence in Sabah from foreigners.”

“These applications were from people, mostly professionals like doctors, who had been in the state for up to 30 years.

The state government had approved their applications but they were held up at the federal level for no rhyme or reason by ignorant civil servants. It’s a mindset problem in Putrajaya.”

One fear among Sabahans and their political leaders alike is that the applications for citizenship dating back to 1963 may either be “missing in action” by now or “even thrown away after some time.”

In that case, the onus will be on the applicants to prove that they did indeed follow-up on their applications at regular intervals, according to a source in Sabah NRD.

“Even acknowledgment slips of applications received by the NRD are not good enough for them to press their case. If you merely file an application and just back and wait, you may be waiting forever. Nothing will happen in most cases.”

In many cases, the applicants apparently went to their graves with their citizenship applications still pending, or ironically, had them approved only after they had passed on.

It is pointed out that the officers handling the citizenship applications lodged in 1963 at the NRD would have long retired from service and perhaps even passed on. Still, “hope springs eternal in the human breast” in Sabah, judging by the spectacle of 80-year-olds approaching their legislators for assistance in securing their citizenship papers.Cynics can’t help but wonder with wry humour why 80-year-olds, “with one foot already in the grave”,still need their Malaysian citizenship papers “since this definitely won’t be an issue where they are going.”

Obesity linked to H1N1 deaths

PARIS, Aug 30 — Obesity has emerged as a possible contributing factor in fatal swine flu cases, according to ground-breaking research looking at deaths caused by the pandemic in countries around the world.

The claim is made by a team from the French Institute for Public Health Surveillance, which has studied the characteristics of 574 deaths associated with the pandemic H1N1 influenza up until the middle of July. According to the team’s findings, published in medical journal Eurosurveillance, underlying disease was found in at least half of all fatal cases.